With the full effects of the credit crunch yet to be felt, many will be advocating a cautious approach – but not business analyst Plimsoll, which is urging successful hauliers to buy up ailing rivals. One consequence of the crunch is already here: the financial services market for the industry is attracting more players, with HSBC promoting its Equipment Finance and Invoice Finance services.

The issue of safety is prominent in today's stories: the trade associations give very different responses to ITV’s Killer Lorries: Tonight programme shown earlier this week, and the Highways Agency's latest business plan reveals it is to introduce more overtaking restrictions for trucks and initiate a crackdown on overweight vehicles.

A couple of tips to save your business money: check foreign workers’ IDs to avoid a £10,000 fine, and why not consider following the example of Cranleigh Freight Services and introduce a ‘sliding scale’ fuel surcharge?

Over in the blogs, BigLorryBlog looks at some classic trucks including a Pacific heavy hitter based in Florida.

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